The glass volume in this Washington, D.C., row house immediately calls to mind the famous quip that God is in the details. Indeed. “This wouldn't be nearly as successful if not detailed in this way,” said one judge.

The clients, who found themselves in possession of a dark row house, asked David Jameson, AIA, to bring light to the space. Jameson soon determined that large glass openings would prove inadequate, so he devised this elegant riff on a Japanese lantern instead. He incised the brick façade and installed a steel grid as the structural frame for glass panels. For the interior, he cantilevered mahogany boards to serve as a clever shelving solution.

“It's a distilled project,” Jameson says. “There's not a lot going on.” But the details, the judges noted, “transform the entire house.”